Do Not to Gentle Into That Good Night

The history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day. Over this period, English poets have written some of the most enduring poems in Western culture, and the language and its poetry have spread around the globe. Consequently, the term English poetry is unavoidably ambiguous. It can mean poetry written in England, or poetry written in the English language. And still the poetry is divan of Englishmen, main point of their tradition, and the epitome of their not only experiences but also proverbs which they don’t get tired of it. Poetry is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. So one of the welsh poets and writers is Dylan Marlais Thomas, who was born in Swansea, Wales on 27 October 1914. He is the greatest living poet in the English language and known to be a heavy drinker. Thomas died in New York on 9 November 1953 in coma probably from alcohol poisoning and abuse. About only two years after his last poem which is "Don't Go to Gentle into Good Night", was a villanelle to his father while he was dying. In the first stanza of "Don't Go to Gentle into Good Night", the speaker addresses someone by tilling him or her that "Don't Go to Gentle into Good Night", because at the first he use mysterious figure, but in the end of the line three it becomes clear that his image means death. Based on this line "Old age should burn and rave at close of day;" (Thomas, 2), and these three words "burn", "rave", and "rage" he directs his words to old men who are closely to die should fight at that day, and do not just die easily without shown not only anger and power, but also madness against it. In the second stanza, the speaker starts with mentioning clever people and their knowledge that death is investable. And even though they know all people are going to die, they should not accept it peacefully because smart men might not achieve everything they could do in the world before their end. In addition, there is a word "dark" in the fourth line which is another way to say death. Also based on this line "Because their words had forked no lightning they" (Thomas, 5), "words" represent the actions, speech, or artistic creation of smart people. In the third stanza especially in these two lines "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright" and "their frail deeds might have danced in a green by" (Thomas, 7, 8), the speaker show us several comparisons. So the sea is like the life, the good men are like waves, the death is like how the waves break in the beach, and the movement of the waves is like the action of these men and how they fighting against death. Moreover, the speaker use word "green" in his poem to describe the color of sea and how it is full of sea life such as plants and animal. So the main point of this stanza is how the good generation act and do their best versus death. In the fourth stanza, the speakers the speakers begin with "wild men" (Thomas, 10) to describe a new kind of men who do not give up either easily or immediately to death. “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,” (Thomas, 10), explaining their way of life and their experiences in it. Additionally, in this line “And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,” (Thomas 11) the speaker pint out to the sanity of their death. They suffer because they caused a lot of follies in their lives. Since they have caused much stupidity they need more time to make up what they have done in their lives. In the next stanza, Thomas describes the last group of men in his poem and how this kind of men are rave and rage in contradiction of death. “Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight,” (Thomas, 13), in this line "Grave" has two meaning either the men who are dying or the men who are sad. Based on the next line, even though this kind of men feels weakness, they still can burn struggle, and fool out of death, “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,” (Thomas, 14). Finally, in his first line of the last stanza, the speaker is showing that this poem is about his father. And he has mentioned all these kinds of men for one reason which is supporting and urging his father who is on the average of death to do the same of those examples of men. Moreover this line “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray,” (Thomas, 17), shows us the speaker's suffering and begging his father not to die effortlessly at the same time. In the end, Thomas ends his poem with the two lines that are repeated through it, which are "Don’t not go gentle into that good night", and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (Thomas, 18&19). For one reason that give his father more both assistant and moral support. In conclusion, in the poem the speaker is referencing first to intelligent men, second to the good generation, next to wild men, finally to grave men. And then describes every single kind's reactions against death in order to support his father who is dying or close to die. Finally, in the last stanza we note obviously the pain and how the speaker suffering because of his father “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray,” (Thomas, 17).

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